Bad communication - Williams/Nakajima

To ask Nakajima not to lose a place to Trulli when he was involved in a battle with Kovalainen and ALonso was a big mistake and a confirmation of what Jackie Stewart has been talking about lately - improve the communication between team and drivers. Anybody who has read at least one page of psychology knows the dangers of focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Also, the team broke Nakajimas focus on what he was currently doing, which was focusing forward instead of in the rear view mirror. Williams deserved to lose the point. Nakajima did not.

Originally posted by Motormedia To ask Nakajima not to lose a place to Trulli when he was involved in a battle with Kovalainen and ALonso was a big mistake and a confirmation of what Jackie Stewart has been talking about lately - improve the communication between team and drivers. Anybody who has read at least one page of psychology knows the dangers of focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Also, the team broke Nakajimas focus on what he was currently doing, which was focusing forward instead of in the rear view mirror. Williams deserved to lose the point. Nakajima did not.

Motormedia

They didn't specifically ask him to not overtake Heikki. Just reminded him not to attempt a ridculous overoptimistic move which is easy for a rookie to do in such conditions. In the end he wasn't quick enough for overtaking anyway.

but Nakajima suddenly lost his pace and became vulnerable to Trulli, which gave Trulli the chance to pass him in the last sector of the last lap, this is so unfortunate to lose another point to their biggest rival.

Don't lose a place to Trulli - those were the words, or of that effect. Completely unnecessary and it doesn't change the fact that it is bad psychology, according to any source you might get your hands on, to ask someone to focus on not making a mistake. Ask any motivational psychologist and you will find that they will agree on that point. Also, it had been a very hard race and Nakajima must have been pretty tired, as all drivers probably were, so to disturb him and ask him to refocus was just plain stupid.

Originally posted by ClubmanGT Transmissions are delayed, it would have been a call from well before he caught them.

Doesn't matter, does it. Also, Nkajima is a rookie. It's one thing to make the mistake of asking an Alonso, Raikkonen or someone else of that stature, who doesn't need to fear losing his job, to not making a mistake.

Motormedia I think I agree that it was bad type of coaching, they should only have given him the information that Jarno is xypointz seconds behind you. And left it at that. A driver should be able to judge these things himself.

Originally posted by primer Motormedia I think I agree that it was bad type of coaching, they should only have given him the information that Jarno is xypointz seconds behind you. And left it at that. A driver should be able to judge these things himself.

Was that Sam Michael?

I have no idea who it was. There were probably tons of different ways to make Nakajima aware of the threat from behind while still having a positive spin to it. In general, most people underperform when they focus on not making a mistake, rather than focusing on doing their best.

I have no idea who it was. There were probably tons of different ways to make Nakajima aware of the threat from behind while still having a positive spin to it. In general, most people underperform when they focus on not making a mistake, rather than focusing on doing their best.

MM

I tend to agree with you, and Williams arent the only ones doing that type of thing. Just suddenly hearing something shouting within your ears can be unsettling at 150mph I guess. For example I noticed Renault during FP2 of this race when they started saying some random stuff to Piquet while he was negociating Becketts... why not do it on the straight?!?

I tend to agree with you, and Williams arent the only ones doing that type of thing. Just suddenly hearing something shouting within your ears can be unsettling at 150mph I guess. For example I noticed Renault during FP2 of this race when they started saying some random stuff to Piquet while he was negociating Becketts... why not do it on the straight?!?

Its not Daytona over there..

I think a guy like Alonso has the ability to sort out the crap he doesn't need to hear but young, inexperienced drivers shouldn't be spooked while driving. They are probably more prone to please their team than what is sometimes to their benefit.

Speaking of Renault. When Fisichella drove for them they were constantly harassing him to go quicker. What was the point of that? I think a lot of the teams have a long way to go in terms of communicating with their drivers.

If you were watching TV, then the radio transmissions are not live. Anything up to a minute or two late.If you were at the track and had a radio scanner and heard it live, then yes it was dumb.

While it doesn't change my opinion on the case of Nakajima and Williams, it is an interesting fact in itself. Are there any hard facts on these delays? The Swedish commentators have never said anything about it, not to my knowledge.

Originally posted by Motormedia While it doesn't change my opinion on the case of Nakajima and Williams, it is an interesting fact in itself. Are there any hard facts on these delays? The Swedish commentators have never said anything about it, not to my knowledge.

No hard facts, just experience of taking my radio scanner to many Australian Grand Prix, and then watching the race again from videotape when I get home.Although Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are digitally encrypted, the other teams just use normal narrowband FM that any radio scanner you might buy in a high street shop could receive.

Originally posted by Motormedia To ask Nakajima not to lose a place to Trulli when he was involved in a battle with Kovalainen and ALonso was a big mistake and a confirmation of what Jackie Stewart has been talking about lately - improve the communication between team and drivers. Anybody who has read at least one page of psychology knows the dangers of focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Also, the team broke Nakajimas focus on what he was currently doing, which was focusing forward instead of in the rear view mirror. Williams deserved to lose the point. Nakajima did not.

The radio transmission you hear is delayed. And only what the teams allow to be broadcast is put out. There was another example this race where someone was told his nearest challenger 'is 8 seconds behind', but in the live pictures he was right on the arse. (could've been Kovalainen and Raikkonen, but not sure about that).

I think a guy like Alonso has the ability to sort out the crap he doesn't need to hear but young, inexperienced drivers shouldn't be spooked while driving. They are probably more prone to please their team than what is sometimes to their benefit.

Speaking of Renault. When Fisichella drove for them they were constantly harassing him to go quicker. What was the point of that? I think a lot of the teams have a long way to go in terms of communicating with their drivers.

MM

I agree, the guys on the radio often undermine and distract the drivers, they should only give information. Renault's cheerleading is ridiculous, if their drivers really needed telling to get on with it they shouldn't be in the car. I mean, as opposed to being told to push because tactically it's worth increasing the risk a little.